Leno slams everyone. He is about as neutral when he is live as one can get. The applause was normal. On a side note, Iam a determined and unyielding democrat/liberal and I heard onthe radio that any conservative viewpoints brought up on thissite are banned. Is that true? Something I am proud of as aliberal is our open minds. Banning different opinions doesnot seem open-minded. Please tell me this is not the case.

We welcome Democrats of all stripes, along with other progressives who will work with us to achieve our shared goals.This is a "big tent" message board. We welcome a wide range of progressive opinion. You will likely encounter many points of view here that you disagree with.We ban conservative disruptors who are opposed to the broad goals of this website. If you think overall that George W. Bush is doing a swell job, or if you wish to see Republicans win, or if you are generally supportive of conservative ideals, please do not register to post, as you will likely be banned.If you have been banned from Democratic Underground, you are not permitted to log on again using a different username. Previously banned members will be immediately banned, regardless of behavior. People who repeatedly and willfully break the rules, or who generally engage in rude, antisocial behavior, will be banned. It doesn't matter if you are a progressive or a long-term member of this board.

28. If you're still here, I felt similarly when I started visiting DU.

I quickly learned, however, that when conservatives start posting, it just ends up becoming an argument that degenerates into name-calling and becomes completely destructive.

Both sides may be to blame, but nevertheless, that is what inevitably happens (you'll note that's also what tends to happen on most boards that allow both sides, only it happens there much more often and the dialogue is, basically, juvenile).

DU was set up to allow progressives to have discussions among themselves. There are plenty of other places for conservatives and liberals to hash it out. And there are plenty of differences among progressives to keep the moderators busy and tie up all the band width here forever.

It's like someone's house. You are free to welcome whomever you want, and turn away whomever you want.

You talk as if DU is the only site available. This is a great site to hit to get away from partisan bickering that happens on more general sites (well, to a degree, anyway - the Kerry people vs. the Dean people actually got pretty damn brutal with each other a few months back, and some of that still lingers). The Dem party includes a really huge range of views, from the most pragmatic/moderate to the farthest left, all of which views can be and are argued here. The purpose of this site if for Dems & leftists to discuss and debate. Allowing righties would be highly distracting and disruptive to that goal. It's not closed-mindedness to protect the purpose of the site from subversion.

I like these sites, both of which welcome the entire political spectrum for discussion:

americanforum.net -- just beware of threads that are moderated by far right-wingers; they'll ignore their own rules and delete lefties' posts sometimes just for kicks, it seems. Annoying, but not unavoidable.

plastic.com -- my hands-down favorite general discussion site, period. It's not strictly political, general culture is the main thing there, but political talk on that site is very well-informed, frank and lively. It has an interesting system of user-moderation, too, derived from slashdot's style.

There's also metafilter, but it's closed to new members. You can read there but not post if you're not enrolled, and that's kinda no fun.

Check those out, see if you enjoy the fray - I sure do! Come back here, though, I think you'll like the discussion and debate that go on at DU, too.

But for a site that frequently featured by right wing talk radio, it is nice to have a "sanctuary" without having to bitch back at someone who is just posting to make everyone angry. Look at the quality of debate on forums like Slate, it's nice to avoid that when you want to. When in the mood for debate there are countless sites to post on.

claim in the same post to be democrats yet take the repuke side of the debate.. Zell Miller's democrats are a very small group.. like maybe 3 people? I doubt any "Z.M.D." who would post here are actually democrats.

please. pardon me if I am wrong but somehow I smell an oh-so-innocent attempt to "expose" DU as somehow "closed-minded." Have you tried "discussing" news and politics in the yahoo! messages linked to at the end of every article? Go for it, if you're into being bludgeoned by intellectual dipwads. Personally I prefer to relax here at DU where I know my fellow posters agree with me and each other on the basics of political opinions and we can share news as well as hash out the nuances, outward manifestations, and activist expressions of those opinions.

From the rules, which you agreed to by registering:

We welcome Democrats of all stripes, along with other progressives who will work with us to achieve our shared goals.

This is a "big tent" message board. We welcome a wide range of progressive opinion. You will likely encounter many points of view here that you disagree with.

We ban conservative disruptors who are opposed to the broad goals of this website. If you think overall that George W. Bush is doing a swell job, or if you wish to see Republicans win, or if you are generally supportive of conservative ideals, please do not register to post, as you will likely be banned.

we share ideas and information from the same perspective. I don't have time to waste arguing with Freepers. If I want to know what they are thinking I go to Free Republic. I don't bother to post, though, because I would be banned-THEY also have rules about posts on their site.

2. The times when I do voice an opinion that differs from those most often presented here, I try to do so respectfully, rather than disruptively.

I've found this site to be quite tolerant of differing viewpoints, so long as the presenters of those viewpints remain civil. The posts I've managed to read before they were banned, and those who posted them, have been clearly disruptive and disrespectful.

ass-kisser and blindly worshiped the fool. So this is good news for us that he has changed his mind (or his corporate managers are allowing this verbage)Liberal? Mmmmm...all sorts of conservative viewpoints are brought up. I find it interesting that you describe yourself as "unyielding" and then pride yourself on your open mind in the same paragraph.

When that came on I just kept replaying it with tivo, everybody I showed it to was shocked. I thought I was the only one that picked up on it, I was extremely pissed to say the least! At least I know I should never underestimate the awareness of DU.

I think this is one of many signs that people are ready to "come out"... against Bush, that is. This was a Leno crowd. Not exactly the most progressive show.... in fact, probably a pretty good cross section of the populace. Another post pointed out that a caller on a radio show said the boos were so deafening at a St. Louis Cardinals game Bush attended Monday that they had to pipe in applause. Don't know if that's true, but I tend to believe it.

I think most people have been "supporting" him merely because we're "at war" and that is what you do. They've also been shamed and intimidated into thinking they cannot voice disapproval of the man without being "unpatriotic".

As white-bread as Leno has been, I think things like this are a real sign of the tide turning, and I say "Go Jay!" The more he (and Stern, and Imus, and of course Letterman) call Bush on his crap, the less people will feel like they "need" to support him.

I just realized after reading this thread how thankful I am that this IS a site for like-minded idea exchange. I have been posting to various sites on message boards ever since there was an Internet and IMHO, giving dittohead posters free rein is always a recipe for disaster. Things quickly deteriorate, flames take over and intelligent discourse evaporates. I genuinely enjoy the sense of humour, the common outrage and the sense of comraderie found here.

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